Night
by sashastar96
Summary: Lume lives in the forest as the clan cats move in. And move her tribe out. Can she save her tribe? Please read. It takes 3 min.
1. Prologue

_My First Fanfiction! The other chapters are longer, don't worry. It isn't from the viewpoint of a clan cat for the most part after this. I was getting bored of that. Please review honestly, I would appreciate any tips. Enjoy!_

Night

Prologue

I stifled a purr of laughter as I watched the apprentices tumble through the entrance to the den. I was glad storytelling was a job solely belonging to the elders; young cats were so full of energy that it made me feel invigorated just seeing their romping.

"It's your turn to fetch moss, Weedpaw!" complained Squirrelpaw, her dark red fur rumpled as she glared at the young orange tom.

"I was made an apprentice yesterday, how can it be my turn?" he snarled back.

"Because I did it two sunrises ago, and Redpaw still isn't healed yet," retorted Squirrelpaw, her worry barely masked by anger as she mentioned her brother.

"It's not my fault he slipped off that boulder!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is t-"

"Quiet!" I commanded. Maybe I wasn't so glad after all.

"The point is Shadefoot had to do it, so now you're both in trouble. If you are here to treat my ticks, at least be quiet. It's time I told you of the cats before the clans. Weedpaw looked up.

"Who was here before us?" he asked, startled. "Thunderclan has been here forever!"

"Ah, you forget. Lionclan came here countless moons before, true, but they did not originally roam this land. Though few stories still tell of them, the Noctis Proeliator, or Night Warriors in our tongue, had been hunting this forest even before that." Weedpaw looked confused at my speech.

"Really? But who were they? Where did they come from? Where are they now?" he asked excitedly, talking so quickly he stumbled over the words like hidden branches.  
In my mind, I purred. I loved Weedpaw's questions; he got right to the point.

"I will start with the first question: who they were. They were one of the most ancient races, larger than us, and skilled warriors who lived by night, as their name suggests. They knew the forest better than us, too, for they knew that a forest cannot be ruled by any, that it is a strong, wild, untamed being of many secrets."

I finished, twitching my tail in a self-satisfied way. Starclan had granted me a most unusual gift, the ability to dream other's lives. The triumphs and defeats, the actions and emotions of certain cats were mine to tell. I was a Teller. It was my duty to pass on the old stories. I knew I had to tell this story now to the young. They are the future, and must pass down the stories until Starclan sent another Teller. I took a deep breath and continued.

"To tell the whole story would take moons, so I will tell the story of one cat, one who changed the old forest forever." But I cannot start at the beginning, I thought, they won't understand. They must understand who she was before they know the roots. Before they know what she did that cold, clear night long ago. I did not know exactly how I knew this, but I knew I must follow it. The Teller part of me was aching to be free, and I let it, giving myself to the story.

"She was the messenger between old and new, dark and light, known and unknown. She was the Link."


	2. An Unplanned Meeting

Ch. 1

Lume was running. No, she corrected herself, sprinting for her life. Her muscles certainly agreed, screaming in agony as they were. Concentrating again on the underbrush flashing past her, Lume listened for her pursuer's heavy breath. Lume dared a glance behind her and saw it; a small fox, red like fire and twice as determined. It was not ten tail-lengths behind her and gaining.

She zigzagged again to throw it off, but it kept on her tail. The desperate chase was tiring her out. She couldn't last much longer. Suddenly, Lume felt a sharp jolt of pain from her tail. The fox had got the very tip in its sharp teeth! The bite spurred her on and she ran ever faster. She pounded her paws on the undergrowth and hoped a stray branch wouldn't trip her. A tiny screech of terror escaped as she looked desperately for a way out.

A tree trunk loomed suddenly ahead as Lume crested a hill. Not thinking, she threw herself up the trunk only to find it was a pine. The fox almost caught her again as she labored upward for the lowest branch two fox-lengths up the trunk

Lume could hear the wild barking of the fox and a puff of hot breath where it nearly recaptured her injured tail. She couldn't resist a sigh of relief when she was finally balanced on the bough, claws digging deep into the soft wood. As the fiery burning in her legs went down, Lume looked down on her attacker.

Below, the fox had its nose to the ground, trying to locate its lost prey. There wasn't much time. Lume knew that if she stayed, the fox would keep her treed for a day or more. She scanned the area around the tree. There was no trees close enough to jump to. Thinking back to her lessons, she turned, positioned herself, and jumped down, onto the still confused fox.

With a smack she landed on its back, digging her claws into the fur. The fox barked and tried to shake her off. Desperately, she clung to it, trying to hook her claws deeper. If she could only cripple it, enough so she could escape! But at the moment, she could only hang on and hope for the fox to get tired. Suddenly, she heard a sound, one that made her stomach turn to ice with fear: The high-pitched, erratic bark of a near adult fox cub. The fox was a mother!

Lume's front leg exploded in agony as the cub ripped her off and threw her to the ground. A yowl sounded from her jaws as she smashed into the hard-packed earth. Up in a flash, she looked for escape, leg held high. But the cub attacked too quickly. he was slammed to the ground by a huge paw. Blood flowed from her head where claws had pierced it.

Lume lay dazed in the dust for a moment the ground felt hot breath on her fur. Thinking fast, she sprang up, looked it straight in the eyes, hissed, and scratched at its face with her bad paw. The cub was much younger than she thought and was startled that its prey was so daring. Limping fast she headed to clump of thick brambles, hoping the fox couldn't follow. Lume wiggled in deep as she could, and held totally still. Maybe the cub, young as it was, would lose interest.

But she had forgotten about the mother. A louder growl came from the edge of the brambles than she had expected. Lume shrunk back farther. She couldn't fight, and a trick that had worked on the cub had no chance with the mother. It would never let her go now that she had hurt the cub.

Oh, I can't go like this! She thought. Hiding in brambles like a scared mouse! But moving would be suicide. The fox's scrabbling claws were nearing, uprooting the brambles. The sound was a tail-length away when it suddenly stopped, and was replaced by furious barking. Hissing answered! Cats? Lume thought. Could this be them?

Actually, she couldn't care who they were, as long as she could get out of there. A scent stopped her: blood. Lume hadn't noticed how much her leg was bleeding. And her head. It made her dizzy. _Mother Atria!_ She couldn't run now. Could the cats drive off the foxes? Where was the fighting? Lume couldn't tell. There were noises coming from somewhere. Her head hurt. She couldn't think and black spots appeared before her eyes… The smell of blood filled her nose as she sank to the ground, unconscious.

Lume drifted in and out of consciousness. Always there was pain, sometimes there were voices. She didn't really care who they were. Her brain was too muddled to realize the importance of what they were saying.

"What is this?"

"Oh, she's bleeding badly. Let's bring her back to camp."

"Can you hear me? We're going to help you."

"Is she a rouge?"

Rouge… Lume had heard that before. But then darkness returned to ease the pain, and she sank back into oblivion.

"Here, eat this. Just sleep."

Bitter mush filled her mouth and she had to choke it down. It let the darkness cover her again, and she slept.


End file.
